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What you need to know about the ALMS/Grand-Am merger

September 4, 2012

The Rolex 24 at Daytona will have an exciting new look when the flag flies to start the race in 2014.

The Sept. 5 announcement that the American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am Road Racing will merge and create a brand new combined series for 2014 left many questions unanswered at this early stage. Here is what we know so far—and these are the key questions for racing fans moving forward—courtesy of the top players in the deal to create a single domestic, big-league sports-car racing organization.

What will happen to the ALMS and Grand-Am in 2013?

NASCAR AND GRAND-AM BOSS JIM FRANCE: “For the 2013 season, our two organizations will continue to run the schedule as has been in 2012. Beginning in 2014 with the Daytona 24 Hour [followed by the 12 Hours of Sebring], we will have a combined championship for North America.”

How did the deal develop?

ALMS FOUNDER DON PANOZ: “Jim and I have had some long discussions, personal one-on-ones, and we agreed on a whole host of issues. In fact, Jim, I don't think we disagreed on anything. Our passion is to have sports-car racing reach its pinnacle and be all that it could be. And I think that with the setup that we have done and the agreement we've made, that will happen. . . . This merger occurred, actually, in a deal and a handshake on the golf course. Surprise. We had a match.

“But before we went on the golf course, I'm a senior, Jim is a little bit younger than me, so we agreed that we would have an 'NDA,' a non-disclosure agreement. We would not disclose what we shot, and we would not disclose who won. And the bet was a dollar, and that bill is labeled the nondisclosure dollar of the golf match for the merger of these two great series.”

ALMS PRESIDENT SCOTT ATHERTON: “Candidly for 11 and a half of the past 12 years, no [I did not think this day would come].

“We can divulge today I think for the first time officially, a lot of things coming out today for the first time: Five years ago, we took a real run at this, and it wasn't the right time. It wasn't the right place and obviously it didn't work out.

“About six months ago, Jim and I were at an industry meeting and I was suffering from a very bad head cold and excused myself from the meeting to go take care of that. And as I walked back, I bumped into Jim France, and Jim said, 'Scott, we need to talk.'

“I said, 'Jim, I'm always ready to talk. I enjoy our conversations.'

'What are you doing next week?'

'Call me.'

“And next week, that call came, and that resulted in a meeting that we can call an NDA, nondisclosure location, as well. The meeting was originally scheduled for two hours and it went on for six hours.

“At the end of that meeting there were about six pages of a yellow pad that were filled up with common ground. And I ran back to the office, and walked into Don's office, and I said, 'Don, we've got an opportunity here.'

“And there was so much common ground that it was undeniable. At that moment, we engaged fully, and to think of what has been accomplished in such a relatively short time with such a complex set of circumstances, is truly remarkable. And we couldn't be more pleased.

Why make this deal now, and what will the news series be called?

JIM FRANCE: “I'll start with the last part of the question first. We have not—we do not have a name. We will be going through a plan. We have got some ideas on how to come up with a name for the new combined series.

“I think that the hard work that [Grand-Am CEO] Ed [Bennett] referred to and Scott referred to is with our teams going forward, to figure out all the details of how we combine everything, the naming and the schedules and all of the things that go into making a series.

“I have to give [Patron tequila owner and ALMS series sponsor and team owner] Ed Brown credit for kind of the timing of this. He and [his Extreme Speed Motorsports co-owner and driver] Scott Sharp were down here competing in the 24-hour race, and we got together on Ed's bus, had some good conversations. He's the main sponsor of the ALMS, has a tremendous team that runs in that series. He came to Daytona to compete in the 24-hour race, and he suggested that I should get together with Don.

“His observation was: I think you two would like each other, and we found out we did—and that we had a lot of common vision. So I've got to give Ed Brown credit for kind of the shove to get us moving on it.”

What will the new series' class structure look like for this unified championship?

SCOTT ATHERTON: “I think it's too early to be definitive. This will be the true merger of the two series, when we combine the technical regulations and descriptions of these cars. The vision has been clearly established but it's been all by the guys in the suits. And the practical application of our vision with the realities of technical limitations and capabilities is yet to be determined.

“If you can understand the complexities of putting this arrangement together and how our focus has been on due diligence and all the legal matters that were required in order to get us to this point today, therefore our staffs have just recently found out and the technical people who are responsible for that are just getting their arms around what it is we have launched on or launched into here.

“So, all things in time. And there will be a point in time when we'll be getting back together with many of you in this room and working our constituents, teams, manufacturers, make sure we get it right the first time.

“I think when we meet back here in January of 2014, you will see a byproduct of a process that has blended together the best and the brightest, the best practices, the best procedures, protocols of both series.

“So if you use that as the basis and the vision, and you look at the strengths that each series has, and each one has a long list of each of those, it's truly going to be a best of the best example.”

There is already a lot of talk, if not concern, about the fate of today's ALMS GT2 class, because it is hailed universally as some of the best sports-car racing on the planet. Can we expect it to continue in its popular form? And what tracks do you envision racing at?

SCOTT ATHERTON: “So candidly speaking, if you look at the GT category in the American Le Mans Series, many reference that as, it's a high watermark of that type of racing that's ever been accomplished. Debatable—but still it's very strong, healthy and getting healthier and stronger all the time.

“I'm going to go on the record and say that [the class] will absolutely be an addition to what has historically in modern times been the 24 Hours of Daytona.

“I think most important merging element in addition to the technical rules, which are admittedly, very complex, very challenging, but also a merging of our schedules. We both have examples of some of the most historic, most important business market venue events that any series could ask for.

“If you take the best of those and oil them down to the best of the best, you open up here with a 24 hours of Daytona followed by the 12 hours of Sebring, and then you just visualize the rest of the true all-star, four-star examples on our collective schedules; it's a very powerful combination. That's what's going to be different in '14.

“[Back to GT2], one of the first questions that I asked Jim when we first got together was: We have a GT category right now that is as good as it can get, we believe. It has OEM involvement from a diverse list of every type of car you can think of, and an appropriate level of [marketing] activation that goes with that.

“And we believe that in order for a future, combined series to be successful, that you would want to retain that and continue to grow that in a way that we have been growing it to get it to where it is today. And without hesitation, Jim's response was, I agree.

“And that doesn't exclude anything. It just means that that example of the current content of the American Le Mans Series has been agreed to be part of the combined series. There are many more unanswered questions that surround that, but to put everyone, if there are fears, to rest, and certainly the OEM partners that are in the room, I think we can honestly say, and I want to see Jim nod his head yes, that going forward, that's the plan: [to retain the ALMS GT2 category as is, without dumbing it down.]”

JIM FRANCE: “That's correct, Scott. I would add that the Rolex Series has tremendous GT racing, also, and those teams will be included in this process and be a part of the series.

“And what we look for is to have really a competitive event at each venue we go to, and I think that our technical crews that we have will figure that out. They better.”

What might the combined field look like?

JIM FRANCE: Visually, if you can imagine the green flag dropping, and looked at the cars [on display] as you came in the door [for today's announcement], the cars in the room here, that is our equipment that both series have; and our vision is that we'll see a combined combination of those cars and our teams, both series competing together for the championship. It will be a very compelling, powerful championship, and I believe we'll truly have some global recognition.

How does this deal affect the ALMS' relationship with the Le Mans organizer, the ACO?

DON PANOZ: Wow, well, first of all, I think that we have had a lot of discussions amongst ourselves that what we need to do is we need to have some common test days, teams from both series, tracks, same time, same place, same conditions, and do that in a manner that we can find a way to make the cars competitive.

Secondly, as part of doing that, we need to also pay attention to our fans, our sponsors, our stakeholders, the OEMs and we listen to what their comments are and we need to go through that and address the things that will make this combined series the best.

Going to Le Mans, we have even talked, for example, that if we had a 12-race schedule, maybe one way to have teams be able to go to Le Mans is, because we've always had a conflict and timing of schedules, that maybe we allow the teams to drop one race from their points. Everybody has that same opportunity. So people going to Le Mans [and potentially missing one of our races here] wouldn't be penalized.

“These are early discussions. Nothing yet is etched in stone, but that's why we have 14 months to go through all this and make sure we get it right before Daytona in 2014.

“So all of these issues are on the table. All of these ideas are surfacing. We have had numerous chats about this. And I can honestly say that on these ideas and coming together and discussing them with Jim and our other people, all of the results and all of the reactions to this have been positive, from everybody's point of view. And not trying to find problems with it, but trying to find solutions to live up to what we think would be the greatest sports-car racing series in the world.”

SCOTT ATHERTON: We have actually met with the ACO in America. Pierre Fillon is the newly-named president. Candidly, it came as a surprise [to him]. There was no advance notice. So once he got over the shock of what we were informing him of, we had a very productive discussion.

“I also want to state that from the very first meeting when Jim and I sat down back in February, he made the comment that he thought it was an important priority to retain the relationship with the ACO and to retain the link to Le Mans, and that's one of the highlights of my notes that day. Because for me, that was a paradigm shift.

“I admit, I think we would all admit, that it's easier said than done, but our vision and plan is to retain that relationship. Don had the idea many, many years ago; there's 15 years of equity established in that relationship. As I said, easier said than done, but we are up to the task.

How many races do you anticipate having in the combined series?

SCOTT ATHERTON: The discussions we've had are very preliminary, and I'll tell you the number that we have used is 12. Has a nice ring to it. It is consistent with what has been the high watermark for the American Le Mans Series and I think a traditional number for Grand-Am.

“I think it also is going to be directly tied to television partnerships going forward. That's always a criteria, an important priority. And when you add a 24 Hour of Le Man- experience into our season here in North America, 12 races is a full calendar. Especially when you add a 24 Hour of Daytona and a 12 Hours of Sebring to teams that historically, at least, have not had both of those weekends on their schedule in recent past.”

Has there been any consideration given to the new series becoming part of the FIA's World Endurance Championship? And will there be room in the regulations or classes for technology like the DeltaWing and hybrid race cars? Will LMP1 cars remain the top class?

DON PANOZ: Funny you should ask. I'll answer the last part first. The DeltaWing is part of the agreement [between all of us] that safety and performance standards have to be achieved. We have proven we have the safety data and stuff, but it needs to be reviewed. But that is part of our agreement that can be accepted.

“We think about the WEC—the WEC is an event of basically LMP1 cars and some people that like to travel [around the world to race]. LMP1 cars and their technology, we have Peugeot, Toyota, we have Porsche coming. That is beyond kind of what the ALMS was capable of and Grand-Am was capable of, because that's really the manufacturer's playpen and maybe tens of millions of dollars in development. And in our situation, we are not thinking about an LMP1-type class. [But] we are thinking of prototypes, Daytona Prototypes, Le Mans Prototypes [such as LMP2], and maybe even a DeltaWing.

“So [the WEC has its] plan and they are pursuing that, but we are American-based. It was the 'American Le Mans Series.' This series that we are putting together is the American sports-car series, and we have to take care of our own business, our own market, addressing our sponsors, our fans, our teams, and that's exactly what we are going to do.

“Of course we are going to pay attention to what's going on around us, but we'll be acting responsibly in our own best interests.”

SCOTT ATHERTON: “I think there is room for both [our series and FIA and ACO events]. Part of the commitment of retaining the relationship with the ACO and with Le Mans would include a potential relationship with the World Endurance Championship.

“I think we don't have any news to announce now, but the intention would be to have that be visible in the United States in 2013, and I don't think anybody would want to make a commitment on a single year. And for that, that's part of the future here as well. So 2014 and beyond, still to be written, but that would be the goal.”